Master of Philosophy in Social Anthropology

Differences from 2015/16 to 2023/24

(See

  • 1. also the general notice at the commencement of these regulations.)

    The Social Sciences Divisional Boardcourse shall electbe forunder the supervision of the course a Standing Committee, namely the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology, which shall have power to arrange lectures and otherMuseum instructionEthnography.

  •  
  • 2. The course director shall be responsible to that committee.

    The examination shall consist of the following:

    • 1. Qualifying Examination

      Every candidateCandidates will be required to satisfy the examiners in an examination for which, if he or she passes at the appropriate level, he or she will be allowed to proceed to the second year of the M.Phil. Candidates must follow a course of instruction in Social Anthropology for at least threesix terms, and will, when entering for the examinations, be required to produce a certificate from their supervisor to this effect.

    •  
    • 3. The Qualifying Examinationexaminations shall be taken in the Trinity Termconsist of the academicfollowing:

    Qualifying year in which the candidate's name is first entered on the Register of M.Phil. students or, with the approval of the divisional board, in a subsequent year.

    Examination 

    Each candidate will be required to satisfy the examiners in papers I1-IV4 on the syllabusas described in the Scheduleregulations for the M.Sc.MSc in Social Anthropology, 

    To pass the qualifying examination and governedproceed by regulation 4 for that degree.

  • 2. Final Examination

    This shall be taken into the Trinitysecond Termyear of the academicMPhil, yearcandidates followingmust thatachieve inan whichaverage mark of 60 or above across the candidate'sfour nameexamination is first entered on the Register of Mpapers.Phil. Students or, with the approval of the Teaching Committee, in a subsequent year. 

    Each

    Final candidate shall be required:

    Examination 

      • (i) Candidates will take one option paper from a list of those approved by the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography to presentbe himselfpublished orby herselfthe for written examination in oneend of theweek optional2 areasof orMichaelmas topics available for that yearterm, other than that taken by the candidate in the M.Phil.MPhil Qualifying Examination. The option paper will be assessed by one or more submissions, full details of which are set out in the previousCourse year;

        Handbook.
      •  
      • (ii) toCandidates will submit to the Chair of Examiners not later than noon on Tuesday of the fifth week of Trinity Term an essay of no more than 5,000 words (twoto copies)be submitted by noon on Thursday of week 5 of Trinity term, in the field of general Social Anthropology, on a topic to be selected from a list set by the examiners at the beginning of the third week of Trinity Term;

        .
      •  
      • (iii) toCandidates submit a thesis in accordance with the regulations below;

      • (iv) to present himself or herself for oral examination if required by the examiners.

    • 3. Thesis 15

      Each candidate shall be required towill submit a thesis of not more than 30,000 words (excluding references, and appendices) on a subject approved by the supervisor. He or she shall send to the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology, with the written approval of his or her supervisor, the proposed title of the thesis, together with a paragraph describing its scope, by noon on the Monday of second week of the Michaelmas Term in the academic year following that in which his or her name was entered on the Register of M.Phil. Students. The thesis (three copies) must be typewritten and delivered to the Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, not later than noon on Tuesday of the second week of the Trinity Term in the academic year in which the Final Examination is taken. The dissertation shall be provided with an abstract of up to 250 words, toon a subject approved by the supervisor, by noon on Thursday of week 2 of Trinity term.

    •  
    • (iv) Candidates may be placedrequested immediatelyto afterattend an oral examination if required by the titleexaminers.
  •  
  • 4. All page.assessments The word count shallmust be statedsubmitted using the University approved online submission system. Technical information on the outsiderequirements frontfor coveronline ofsubmissions is provided in the thesisCourse Handbook.

     
  •  
  • 5. The examiners shall require a successful candidate to deposit a copy of his or hertheir thesis in the TylorSocial Sciences Library. If the thesis is superseded by a D.Phil. thesis by the same student partly using the same material, the Teaching Committee of the School of Anthropology may authorise the withdrawal of the M.Phil. thesis from the Tylor Library. Such candidates will be required to sign a form stating whether they give permission for their thesis to be consulted.

    The examiners may award a distinction for excellence in the whole examination.

    If it is the opinion of the examiners that the work which has been required of a candidate is not of sufficient merit to qualify him or her for the Degree of M.Phil. the candidate shall be given the option of resitting the M.Phil. examination under the appropriate regulation.

  • 4.  Resits

    In order to pass the degree, a student must pass all its assessed components. Where one or more components are failed, the student will be given the opportunity to re-sit or re-submit them once, as the case may be. Any subsequent award of the degree on successful completion of all the assessed components may be delayed by up to three terms, i.e. until the Examination Board next meets.